The present invention relates to oil feeding devices for vehicles and, more particularly, to an oil feeding device for vehicles designed to reliably feed a desired quantity of lubrication oil to desired parts of the vehicle regardless of variation in the oil level in an oil pan.
As well known to those skilled in the art, it is necessary to lubricate the junctions of movable contact parts in a vehicle engine or transmission to reduce frictional resistance of the parts, in addition to cooling them. In order to lubricate such parts, lubrication oil is fed from an oil pan to desired parts of the engine and transmission. Such parts include a valve body, a clutch, planetary gears and an output gear. Oil is circulated by a pumping operation of an oil feed pump, thus cooling the parts and allowing a smooth movement between parts.
The construction of a conventional oil feeding device for supplying oil to the movable contact parts of a transmission in a vehicle is shown in FIG. 1. As shown in the drawing, the conventional oil feeding device has an oil pan 1 provided at the bottom of a casing 4. An oil feed pipe 6 extends from the oil pan 1, with an oil feed pump 2 mounted to the pipe 6. When the pump 2 is operated, oil xe2x80x9cOxe2x80x9d under pressure flows from the oil pan 1 to the desired parts of the transmission through the oil feed pipe 6 so as to lubricate parts of the engine and transmission. The oil feed pipe 6 is also provided with an oil filter 3 for filtering the oil flowing through the pipe 6, thus removing impurities from the oil. An oil screen 5 is provided at the inlet end of the oil feed pipe 6 such that it is sunk into the oil inside the oil pan 1. The oil screen 5 screens the oil to exclude impurities before the oil flows into the oil feed pipe 6.
When the oil feed pump 2 draws oil from the oil pan 1 during operation of the transmission, large-sized impurities are primarily removed from the oil by the oil screen 5 before the oil is introduced into the oil feed pipe 6. The primarily filtered oil passes through the pipe 6, and is secondarily filtered by the oil filter 3 prior to reaching the desired parts of the engine and transmission.
However, the conventional oil feeding device can be problematic in that when the oil level inside the oil pan 1 is below the oil screen 5 due to consumption of oil, or when the oil leans to one side due to inclination of a vehicle running on a slope, a sufficient quantity of oil is not fed from the oil pan to the desired parts of the engine or transmission. In such a case, the oil feeding device fails to effectively provide lubrication.
The present invention provides an oil feeding device for vehicles, which is designed to reliably feed a desired quantity of lubrication oil to the movable contact parts of a vehicle, such as parts of the engine or transmission. The present invention provides necessary lubrication even when the oil level inside the oil pan is below a predetermined level due to consumption of oil or excessive incline due to inclination of a vehicle running on a slope.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, an oil pump for drawing oil from an oil pan is provided at the bottom of the casing, feeding the oil to the desired parts of a vehicle through an oil feed pipe. An oil filter for removing impurities from the oil is also provided along the feed pipe. A preferred embodiment the invention further comprises a guider connected to the oil inlet end of the oil feed pipe inside the oil pan and drawing oil from the oil pan at several positions.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, an oil pan configured to contain oil communicates with an oil feed tube. An oil pump positioned along the feed tube draws oil from the oil pan. An oil screen is positioned in the feed tube between the oil pan and oil pump. Plural branch members are formed on the oil feed tube wherein each branch member opens into a specific area of said oil pan, with this arrangement a continuous supply of oil from the pan to the tube may be facilitated in spite of variations of oil levels within the pan. Preferably there are four such branch members, and each branch member opens approximately in a comer of the oil pan. In a further preferred embodiment, the oil pan defines a plurality of depressed areas, wherein each depressed area is associated with an opening of one of the the plural branch members. More preferably each opening of a branch member includes a sub-filter and each sub-filter incorporates a shock absorber acting between the branch member and oil pan.